by ID Johnson
Nodding, Ru said, “That sounds… great.” She realized as soon as the word came out of her mouth that he had just used the same word, and she probably sounded like a moron. But looking into his eyes, she couldn’t think of anything else to say to make it any better.
“Ahem.” They both looked up to see Jess standing next to Kyle’s side of the booth, a knowing smile on her face. “Sorry to interrupt, but can you at least scoot over so I can sit down?”
“Sorry,” Kyle said, looking at her sheepishly as he slid over next to the window so she could have his seat.
Jess didn’t say anything, just smiled as she leaned across him to grab her glass and took a drink.
“Well, I should probably be going anyway,” Ru said, looking around to see where Mendy might be so she could get the bill. She caught the waitress’s eye, and the woman headed in her direction.
“Thank you again, so much, for everything,” Jess said, her expression nothing but sincere.
“It really is no problem.”
“You guys all set? Need any boxes or drinks to go?” Mendy asked, and even though she was addressing all of them, her eyes had settled on Kyle.
“I think we just need the check,” he said, smiling at her, but Ru saw it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Okay, then.” She took the bill out of her apron and handed it to him, perhaps lingering a bit too long when their fingers accidentally touched. Eventually, she backed away.
“How much do I owe?” Ru asked, grabbing her wallet out of her purse on the seat next to her.
“Are you serious?” he asked, staring at her as he pulled his billfold out of his back pocket. “You gave my little sister invaluable advice. The least we can do is buy you lunch.”
Ru opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Jess said, “Yes, we can definitely afford the cost of a chicken sandwich in exchange for your wisdom.”
Seeing as there was no point in arguing, Ru simply said, “Then, thank you. I appreciate it.”
“We appreciate you. I appreciate you,” Jess said, glancing at her brother for a second and then giggling before returning her eyes to Ru, “more than you’ll ever know.”
Feeling a blush coming on again, Ru averted her eyes. She really didn’t think she’d done that much, but it was nice to be appreciated. “Well, like I said, call me if you need anything.” She decided she should probably walk out before they did. Otherwise, the awkward goodbye would be repeated in the parking lot. She gathered up her belongings.
“I definitely will,” Jess nodded.
“Good luck tomorrow. It’ll be great. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes.” That was the best advice she’d ever gotten when she was a new teacher.
“I will.” Jess looked a lot more confident now than she had when Ru walked in an hour or so ago.
She slid out of the booth and stood there for a moment, not sure what to say. Kyle passed the check to his sister who set it at the end of the table along with the money to cover it. “I’ll call you in a few days,” he said, catching Ru’s eyes.
Nodding, she tried to think of something clever to say and realized any response would sound ridiculous, so she just waved and said, “See you soon,” to both of them and then turned to head out the door. Perhaps she should’ve thanked him again, or shook his hand, or said something sexy, but all she could think about was not looking idiotic, so she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. An older gentleman held the door open for her, and she realized the church crowd would be coming in now. If she was going to run into any of her students, at least it would be in the parking lot.
She fumbled for her keys and remotely started her car. Once she was inside, she took a few deep breaths before gently turning the key and buckling her seatbelt. Part of her wanted to stay to watch Kyle exit the restaurant, just to see him again, but that seemed like it would be a little stalkerish. Instead, she shifted into reverse and headed out of the parking lot, wondering what she was getting herself into. The last time she’d agreed to go out on a date with an extremely attractive guy, she’d ended up in a creepy old house learning about the supernatural. At least with Kyle, I Won’t have to worry about any of that, she thought to herself as she head home. He seemed pretty human to her.
Cutter stood in one of the many bedrooms on the second floor staring at the wall. Rider had taken it upon himself to create one of those police diagrams with pictures of victims with pieces of string linking all of them back to Reaper’s Hollow. Even though they had no idea where this center of activity was since they hadn’t found the portal, it was compelling evidence.
“So… our newest victim, Lana Paul, died last Saturday night. That makes five.” Rider was standing right behind him, filling him in on information he already knew, as if saying it out loud would somehow help them both process.
Taking a step forward, Cutter studied the pretty woman’s face. She wasn’t that old and was definitely unmarked. They still had no idea whether it had been Nat or one of his minions. For that matter, they weren’t even sure how many Reapers had congregated here. While Rider had seen Raven with his own eyes, Lyric had caught Zu on his way to what would’ve been victim number six the night before. He was able to lose her quickly by leaping into a dream about a maze, lucky bastard. There could be more, though.
“Why a fourth grade teacher, though?” Ivy said, walking in and taking a seat on the desk behind Cutter.
“Easy. ‘Cause he wants to scare us,” Rider said backing up and sitting next to her on the corner.
“I don’t think so,” Cutter said, taking another step toward the display.
“Sure. You’re a fourth grade teacher. Ru’s a fourth grade teacher. He wants us to know he can do whatever he wants. Except he can’t.” Rider’s voice seemed more convicted at the end, and Cutter turned to look at him. “Actually,” he said, jumping down off of the desk and approaching the wall, “we need to put our almost-victim up here, too.” He was referring to the woman he’d saved when he’d walked in on Raven Friday night.
“What was her name?” Ivy asked, pulling out her phone.
“Deena Jones.”
“Right. Let me get an address.”
Cutter knew she lived in NYC, but he had no idea where.
“Oh, God.” He turned to see Ivy’s face ashen.
“What is it?” Cutter asked, turning to face her.
“Deena Jones died today. She drove a car she’d borrowed from a friend into oncoming traffic on the Jersey Turnpike, taking out a family of four.”
“What?” Rider asked, leaping over and pulling her phone so he could see it. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah,” Ivy said, releasing her phone so he could get a better view and locking eyes with Cutter.
He didn’t know what to say. His mouth dropped open, and he kept it that way for several moments before he closed it. “We need to know if that family was marked.”
“I’m on it,” Ivy said, nodding. She stood and waited for Rider to hand over her phone before she left the room, even though it would take more than a phone call for that information. She’d have to contact Uriah, which would require her to leave her body, or at the very least, enter a dream state, and it could take her a while.
“Where’s Lyric?” Cutter asked, turning his attention back to the wall, not sure of what to make of this new information.
“LYRIC!” Rider screamed out the open door.
“Thanks. I could not have done that myself.” Cutter could only shake his head.
“Don’t mention it.” Rider returned to his previous spot on the desk, but Cutter could tell he was just as bewildered at this new information as he felt himself.
“What’s up?” Lyric asked, sticking her head in the door.
“Deena Jones? My rescue from the other night? She just took out a family of four and herself in a borrowed sedan.”
“You’re kidding?” Lyric asked, stepping into the room.
“Nope. Bet that made for a messy commute.” Ride
r had his arms crossed, and Cutter could tell he at least partially blamed himself.
“Rider, you did what you were supposed to do,” Lyric reminded him. “She wasn’t marked. You had to save her.” He nodded his head, but his tight lips revealed he wasn’t confident of Lyric’s response. She stepped over and put her arm around his shoulders, perhaps the most comforting thing Cutter had ever seen her do. She was usually pretty tough, at least on the outside. Clearly, she felt sorry for her teammate.
“Well, until we know whether or not that family was marked, there’s not much we can do about it,” Cutter concluded.
“Does that happen?” Lyric asked, standing back up and folding her arms. “Can people take out whole groups of people who aren’t marked?”
“Not to my knowledge,” Cutter admitted.
“Maybe… maybe Raven got back to her. Maybe she possessed Jones and made her do it,” Rider speculated.
“Now, that I’ve heard of,” Cutter admitted. It was rare—a possession that resulted in suicide and murder—but it was a possibility.
“We need to see if Ru has spoken to Nat and if he mentioned it,” Lyric said. “Who knows? He might tell her what’s going on if he thinks she’s on his side.”
“We are not using Ru as a secret agent,” Cutter said with absolutely no hesitation.
“No of course not,” Lyric agreed. “It’s just… she isn’t really on a side yet. She might know something.”
“You also need to find out if she knew Paul,” Rider said, finally meeting Cutter’s eyes. “Maybe they met at a workshop or something.”
Cutter nodded. That would be easier to find out than the first bit of information. Since he’d promised Ru he wouldn’t invade her dreamscape anymore, and neither would the others, he’d have to talk to her about it, and bringing up Nat at work wasn’t something he could easily do, especially since she was likely to get flustered, and he didn’t want to do that to her. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“I thought he was moving in closer when he took out Jim Carpenter nearby and then Sandra Delvecchio right in town,” Rider mused. “But Tarrytown is further away. And I don’t know what to think about Jones.”
Cutter was frustrated. Perhaps he should just walk away from the wall and do something else to take his mind off of this. Maybe go for a jog. Sometimes his best inspiration hit when he wasn’t even paying attention to the problem.
“He has no reason to get closer now,” Lyric pointed out. “Before, he was searching for Ru. Now, he knows where she’s at.”
“So, if he’s spreading back out, is it possible he’s leaving? That he’s given up on Ru since you caught him the other night?” Rider’s expression was hopeful.
Cutter squashed it. “No, there’s no way he’ll just walk away. But Ru is strong enough to resist him. I know she’ll never willingly go with him. I told her if he shows up in a dream again to refuse him.”
“And you think she will?” Lyric asked, her eyebrows arched.
“I think so.”
“But… what if it’s not a dream. What if he comes to her in his human form?”
Once again, Rider’s question sat uneasily with him. Would Nat try something so bold as to approach Ru as a man? He could manipulate his features, so she wouldn’t recognize him. He could influence her much more easily that way, too. She’d have no idea he was motivating her. But, after the other night, when Cutter had warned him, and Ru had shown just how powerful she truly is, surely, he wouldn’t do such a thing. Shaking his head, Cutter said, “No, I don’t think Nat would try something like that. Ru would tell me if he did.”
“How would she know?” Lyric asked.
“She’d tell me if some guy she didn’t know suddenly dropped into her life. We’re good enough friends for that. And she trusts me again now, after yesterday.”
Both of them were looking at him skeptically, but Cutter was certain Ru would tell him if something like that were to occur. But… if she didn’t… she could be in more danger than he could even imagine.
Chapter 17
Ru sat on the couch in lotus position, her hands on her knees, frustrated beyond all understanding. “Why isn’t this working?” she whispered aloud. Not only was she unable to get anywhere close to freeing her spirit from her body and jumping into other realms, as Cutter had explained it, she couldn’t get the blue light to come back to her hands either. She’d been trying that one for a couple of days. Once again, she gave up in frustration.
It was past 11:00, and that meant she was going to bed late, which was never a good idea on a Sunday. She just wished she could figure out how she’d manage to make the lights appear the last time, but she’d been asleep then. If she could do it when her brain was dead to the world, why couldn’t she do it when she was really trying to?
Realizing she’d likely need some sort of training from Cutter, she decided to call it a night. She made sure the doors were locked and carefully flipped off all of the light switches as she made her way to her bedroom, Piper at her feet. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she made sure her alarm was set and nestled into bed. Six in the morning would be here soon enough.
Thoughts of Kyle filled her mind as she slipped off into oblivion. What was it about him that she liked so much? Sure, he was gorgeous, but there was more to it than that. She felt like she’d known him for years, like they had a connection, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Why was she so drawn to him?
Ru was standing in the middle of a garden. It was dusk, and the sky was covered in streaks of pink and orange with a backdrop of vivid yellow. Around her, flower petals wafted down in the air from a myriad of blooming trees. Streams of violet, crimson, and blush filled the air, pooling near her bare feet. She was wearing a long flowing gown again, this time it was the same shade as her eyes, the ocean after a storm. Her hair caught the breeze and the feel of the cool air on her skin was enrapturing. Wherever this place was, it was breathtaking, and she felt more at peace than she could ever remember feeling before.
A noise broke the solace, and she turned. Off in the distance, down past rows of flowers in every color and variety her mind could imagine, she saw a figure sitting alone on a bench. From this distance, she couldn’t tell who it was, but the person was hunched over, and she assumed the noise she’d heard was sobbing coming from that direction.
Without fear of stepping on thorns or any other obstacle, Ru slowly headed toward the lone figure. She wasn’t sure why this person had come to such a lovely place to weep, but she wanted to see if she could provide any sort of comfort.
She could see, as she approached, it was a man, dressed in black slacks and a black shirt. His hair was nearly as dark. It wasn’t until she was almost upon him that she realized precisely who it was. She stopped several feet behind him and waited, not sure what to do. Cutter had told her not to engage him, that if she saw him, she should run. But here he sat, no longer a powerful Reaper, but a puddle of humanity.
He must’ve heard her. Wiping his eyes on his sleeves, Thanatos turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, Ru. I didn’t mean to disturb you. It’s such a beautiful place you’ve created here. I only… I only meant to find some refuge. I had no idea my emotions would overcome me so.”
Puzzled by his candor, Ru only stared for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, as he turned to stare back at a tall hedge which seemed to surround the garden, she asked, “Why are you crying?”
A laugh escaped his lips, and he slowly shook his head. “I am half human, you remember?” he asked, not even glancing over his shoulder at her. “I bleed as well.”
Fascinated by his response, Ru stepped around the low granite bench he sat on so that she could face him. “What’s happened?” she asked, wishing he’d be more forthcoming.
With eyes still swollen and red, Nat looked into her face. “Haven’t you heard about the tragedy in New York City? A family of four killed by a suicidal driver?”
Ru felt her eyes widen. “No, I hadn�
�t heard.” She wondered why this event had him in such distress. Was the family someone he knew?
“I could’ve stopped her!” he exclaimed, covering his face with his hands once more. “I meant to… I sent… my most trusted advisor. But….” He stopped speaking, swiping at his eyes again, as if he was ashamed at crying in front of her.
“But what?” Ru wanted to know, taking a step closer.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
It was a possibility; perhaps the most complex part of her job was listening to students’ problems when she couldn’t possibly understand. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t listen. Cautiously, Ru sat down on the end of the bench, leaving some space between them. While she had no reason to think she could trust him, she felt compelled to comfort him. She kept her hands folded in her lap so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him. Cutter’s words stuck with her even under the veil of sleep. She shouldn’t touch him for any reason. “Why don’t you tell me anyway? Even if I don’t understand, it might help you to speak about it.”
He glanced at her out of the corner of one pristine green eye and then looked back to the hedge. Ru took that to mean he wouldn’t be revealing anything to her, but just when she thought she might verbally nudge him again, he began to speak. “I sent Raven to collect her, knowing Deena Jones would kill the Bridges family. My father, Azrael, he knew what was written in the book. He knew that she must be stopped. Raven was unable to accomplish her task, even though Deena was willing to go with her, because she was interrupted by a Keeper. Rider. He chased her through several other people’s dreams before she finally managed to shake loose of him. If… if Rider Michaels hadn’t shown up and interrupted the process, Deena Jones would’ve died of natural causes in her sleep instead of plowing into the Bridges family, killing a mother, a father, and two innocent little boys.” He turned to meet her eyes, punctuating the last few words with conviction.
